2012 Prius v Unicorns and rainbows

How has your mpg been? Wear rate suggests brakes have been dragging. Caliper slide pins lubricated?

 

My 2004 Prius is still on its original brakes at 285 kmiles. Our brakes last a loooong time due to regenerative braking. The only problems that occur are rusted rotors due to lack of use and corroded sliding pins (can cause uneven pad wear) due to lack of maintenance (lubricate them every few years).

JeffD

 

Something has gone very wrong if new rear brake pads are needed. We have only 21,000 miles on our 2012 Prius v but I expect that its rear brake pads will be "lifetime" (> 200,000 miles) based on my experience with three non-hybrid Toyota vehicles that have been driven to far over 100,000 miles on the original rear brake pads.

Could you provide more information? For example, who is telling you that the pads are worn out? Have you personally verified the wear by measuring the pad thickness? Any other relevant information?

I don't know what the minimum acceptable pad thickness is for a Prius v but on our other Toyota and Lexus vehicles, the minimum acceptable thickness was only 1mm. I've had repair shops and even Lexus dealers tell me that brake pads were worn out even when they were not even half worn out - very common scam.

 

Unlikely but it sounds like your mpg is down at least 4 mpg. 38 mpg is what I get doing 75-80 mph. So perhaps they were dragging. Do you have salt on your roads in winter. Location in your profile is more than a nice to know, it helps diagnose some items.

 

did he show you the pads, rotors and operation? fronts usually wear first, unless somethings wrong.

 

Did they say if it front or rear brakes, or both? If you're a veteran wrencher I'd at least pull both a front and back wheel, see what's going on. The miles per gallon sounds kinda low, but it is the v, so not sure.

 

I don't know how rjparker is getting the gas mileage he is getting but 38.5 mpg is right at what our 2012 Prius v Five has gotten over its 21,000 miles and I check it at every fill-up. It's my wife's daily driver and driven about half on 55-65 mph highways and half on city streets where the speed limit averages 35 mph. She drives it like a regular non-hybrid car and doesn't strive for low fuel usage. Its tires are kept near the recommended pressures shown on the door jam: 33/32.

Maybe your trusted mechanic simply made a mistake and "eyeballed" it instead of measuring the pads.

I suggest you pull one or both rear wheels and measure the pads yourself. If you don't have an appropriate measuring tool, use a hard wire such as a length of wire coat hanger to gauge the pad thickness and then measure that portion of the wire with a metric ruler. I've been measuring brake pads for decades and lengths of coat hangers are some of my favorite tools. Seriously, I've got them hanging on a hook in the garage.

And maybe aim a cell phone camera at the pads and show us what their thickness looks like.

If you have a floor jack, the Prius v is super easy to lift from the front or rear - I did it just last week when I switched out the snow wheels. There is a big body color metal "nub" hanging underneath the back of the Prius v for lifting the vehicle with a floor jack - it's fairly far forward from the rear bumper. That reminds me that I need to re-torque the lug nuts since the car has been driven a bit - 76 ft. lbs. is the spec.

 

A normally operated Prius with normally functioning brakes should see at least 75,000-90,000 miles on a set of rear brakes. Absent any real information about what exactly is "wrong" with your brakes its most likely you are being ripped off. OR, at best the mechanic is clueless.

 

2012 v Five with 31,000 miles on original F/R pads, TP 40/38psi, lifetime 43.0 mpg

I just don't know how you could go through rear pads in particular in 17,000 miles.

 

One way the rears can wear fast: if they'd been disassembled, and reassembled wrong. The incorporated parking brake mechanisms require specific orientation of the caliper piston. Mis-orientation causes terrific drag and uneven wear.

 

OP doesn't mention any such work having been done. That is one possibility, of course, but it would presumably be noticed while driving, in mpg drop, and you'd smell overheated brake material.

 

Remember Hanlon's Razor, the Mechanic does not have to be dishonest.

Hanlon's razor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

I think your conclusion is likely the most accurate - that the mechanic was not familiar with Toyota vehicles and did what he thought was appropriate.

 

Just had a 30k miles service on a 2012 v. Mixed city and highway miles.
Inspection report gave me still 10mm for the fronts pad thickness, 11mm for the rears. And 10/32" for the tires.

My last car needed an $1,100 brake job at 30k and $1,200 in tires every 15k so you know I'm not babying things.

 

OTOH, you have yet to demonstrate that there's anything wrong with the brakes.

 

mike mentions his 'last car' needing $1200. in tyres, and suddenly, the prius is going to be expensive?